Floor rack for refrigerator vehicles



Sept. 16, 1941. G. P. TORBURN FLOOR RACK FOR REFRIGERATOR VEHICLES Filed Feb. 7, 1940 Patented Sept. 16, 1941 FLGE RACK FOR REFRIGERATOR VEHICLES Gustav P. Torburn, Oakland, Calif. Application February 7, 1940, Serial No. 317,662

1 Claim.

The invention relates to refrigerator cars, automotive trucks or other vehicles for transportation of perishable commodities, such as fruits and vegetables, wherein a false foraminous floor or floor rack is provided so that refrigerated or warmed air may circulate in the space between the floor of the vehicle and the false floor and pass therethrough to cool or warm upon the iioor rack. The floor rack is also used to ventilate the lading in a similar manner. The usual floor rack comprises a plurality of spaced apart slats supported by spaced apart stringers which rest upon the iioor of the vehicle.

One of the objects of the invention is to position and associate the hinge elements so that these elements cannot be disconnected from each other while the floor rack is in upright or vertical position. In other words, the floor rack cannot be removed from such position.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a cross section refrigerator vehicle showing the floor rack in relative position to the other parts of the car in horizontal and vertical positions.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through the floor rack hinge and associated parts of the car,

Fig. 3 shows the hinge elements, the floor rack having been omitted for clarification.

The relative position of the oor -rack I to the other elements of the car is shown in Fig. 1 wherein the side walls 2 support the roof 3 above the floor 4. It is now customary to provide a false oor or floor rack I for the purposes heretofore mentioned, which is hinged adjacent a vertical wall 2 to swing from a `substantially horizontal or service position (as shown at the left of Fig. l) to an upright or out of the way position (as shown at the right of Fig. l) so that the floor of the vehicle may be cleaned.

In the vehicle shown the wall 2 ci the vehicle comprises a lining land a sheathing 'I with insulation 8 therebetween. The iioor may be covered with a waterproong material or metallic sheet I0.

The hinge butt I3 is mounted upon the wall 2 in any convenient manner, such as by the bolts I4, and is provided with a pintle I spaced from the wall of the car and extending parallel to said wall.

The iioor rack comprises a plurality oi spaced apart stringers I'I supporting a plurality oi spaced apart slats I8. The hinge strap or element 20 is preferably J-sha-pe having a depending flange 22-23 on each side of the pintle I5. The hori- Zontal bolt 25 passes through both depending of a typical railway the lading flanges 22-23 and the adjacent Stringer I1. The bolt 26 also holds the hinge element 20 to the Stringer II.

The hinge strap 20 is below the slats I8 so that the bolt 25 can only be removed when the floor rack is in upright position.

The distance between the hinge line center of the pintle I5 and the top of the floor rack I is less than the distance lbetween the hinge line and the lining 6 so that when the floor rack I is in upright vposition the iioor rack will lean against the wall 2 and stay there of its own a'ccord', because a vertical line passing through the center of gravity of the floor rack will pass between the hinge line and the wall 2.

A great many cars now in service have the ice bunkers adjacent the end wall-s of the car, in which case the floor rack stringers I1 extend parallel to the side walls 2 oi the car to provide parallel flues for the cold air coming from the end bunkers. Other refrigerator cars (overhead bunker cars) are provided with refrigerant containers 30 adjacent the ceiling 3| and drip pans 32 spaced therebelow so that air cooled by the refrigerant in the container cools the air in the space 34 between the container 30 and the drip pan 32 so that it descends down iiues 35 in the side walls 2 of the car to the space 31 under the floor rack from whence it rises through the lading and cools it. The iioor rack slats I8 prefera-bly extend crosswise of the car and the stringers I1 lengthwise thereof so that the slats will aid in resisting the lading from sliding along the floor rack due to the shocks of the moving car and particularly coupling impacts. When my improved floor rack hinge construction is used in such an overhead bunker car, I preferably run the stringers I1 lengthwise of the car and the slats I8 crosswise thereof and provide the stringers with perforations or notches 28 to allow the circulating air from the side wall flue to pass through the several stringers to more evenly distribute the cooled air under the lading.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preierred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modications thereof, within the scope of the claim, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

In a refrigerator car having a wall and a floor, a oor rack comprising a Stringer extending substantially parallel with said wall in spaced relaverted U-shape hingeV strap secured to said 10 Stringer with its closed end extending upwardly into said notch and with depending flanges Vstraddling said pintle in rotative engagement therewith, one of said'anges having a width substantially equal to the distance between said Y arms to prevent movement of the rack parallel with said wall, and a bolt extending between said flanges below said pintle to limit upward movement of 4the rack. v l

- GUSTAV P. TORBURN. 

